Health, Wealth & Subtleties

Kathryn created two pairs of shoes made entirely from sugar modelling pastes. They tell the tales of two women who lived at Burghley, woven together with historic uses of sugar and very architecture of the building.

Just a year before the exhibition, it was learnt that the Tudor turrets on the roof at Burghley had been specifically built as places for the family's most important guests to go and eat sugar. Sugar sculptures, known as ‘subtleties’, would be carried up the stone staircase that runs from the kitchen to the roof. Over the centuries, the shoes of servants, visitors and family have all contributed to a gentle wearing away of these old stone steps.

In Tudor times, sugar was very expensive and as well as a treat for the gentry it was regarded as a health food for children. However, it wasn't always effective and just before a visit from the Queen, Ann Cecil, the daughter of the house, become ill with smallpox. The white shoes tell of her illness and Tudor medical practices. The Queen changed her plans and never returned to visit the House, though fortunately the child survived.

In the late 1790s, Henry Cecil fell in love with and married Sarah Hoggins, a Shropshire farmer's daughter. A few years later he became Earl of Exeter, and they moved to Burghley. Sadly Sarah struggled to settle in this strange aristocratic world. The golden slippers were created to comfort her. From the outside, they look like what a countess ought to wear. Inside, her toes would be nestled amongst familiar wildflowers... daisies, forget-me-nots and violets. A herbal of the time states that violets mixed with sugar ‘comforteth the heart’.

Fresh Take at Burghley was developed and led by Art Pop-Up with Burghley House, Lincs.
Supported by the Arts Council, Creative Peterborough, Metal and Art in the Heart.